590 CLOTHING DESPISED. 



seed contains so much farinaceous matter that the natives collect 

 it for their own food. 



This part of the country abounds in ant-hills. In the open 

 parts they are studded over the surface exactly as haycocks are 

 in harvest, or heaps of manure in spring, rather disfiguring the 

 landscape. In the woods they are as large as round haystacks, 

 40 or 50 feet in diameter at the base, and at least 20 feet high. 

 These are more fertile than the rest of the land, and here they are 

 the chief garden-ground for maize, pumpkins, and tobacco. 



When we had passed the outskirting villages, which alone con- 

 sider themselves in a state of war with the Makololo, we found 

 the Batoka, or Batonga, as they here call themselves, quite friend- 

 ly. Great numbers of them came from all the surrounding vil- 

 lages with presents of maize and masuka, and expressed great joy 

 at the first appearance of a white man, and harbinger of peace. 

 The women clothe themselves better than the Balonda, but the 

 men go in jpuris naturalibus. They walk about without the 

 smallest sense of shame. They have even lost the tradition of 

 the " fig-leaf." I asked a fine, large-bodied old man if he did not 

 think it would be better to adopt a little covering. He looked 

 with a pitying leer, and laughed with surprise at my thinking him 

 at all indecent ; he evidently considered himself above such weak 

 superstition. I told them that, on my return, I should have my 

 family with me, and no one must come near us in that state. 

 "What shall we put on? we have no clothing." It was consid- 

 ered a good joke when I told them that, if they had nothing else, 

 they must put on a bunch of grass. * 



The farther we advanced, the more we found the country swarm- 

 ing with inhabitants. Great numbers came to see the white man, 

 a sight they had never beheld before. They always brought pres- 

 ents of maize and masuka. Their mode of salutation is quite sin- 

 gular. They throw themselves on their backs on the ground, and, 

 rolling from side to side, slap the outside of their thighs as expres- 

 sions of thankfulness and welcome, uttering the words "Kina 

 bomba." This method of salutation was to me very disagreeable, 

 and I never could get reconciled to it. I called out, " Stop, stop ; 

 I don't want that ;" but they, imagining I was dissatisfied, only 

 tumbled about more furiously, and slapped their thighs with great- 

 er vigor. The men being totally unclothed, this performance im- 



